


i'll love you for a lifetime

by meredithflynn



Series: like sinking ships on waters [2]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Adorable Louis, Alternate Universe - High School, Crushes, Falling In Love, Harry and Liam are best friends, Idiots in Love, Innocent Louis Tomlinson, Jock Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson-centric, Louis' POV, M/M, Mutual Pining, Oblivious, Pining, Slow Burn, just cuteness overall, louis zayn and niall are best friends
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:40:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28476294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meredithflynn/pseuds/meredithflynn
Summary: [sequel to love me, please?]harry is the popular boy at school, loved by everyone and enjoying his life. louis is the quiet, shy but unbelievably gorgeous boy who makes a certain curly boy fall deeply in love with him. the only problem is, they've never talked before. so what happens when a frog crushes on a hedgehog?only, this time the story is told through the eyes of the blue-eyed boy.aka a larry stylinson high school au
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik/Liam Payne
Series: like sinking ships on waters [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2085744
Comments: 3
Kudos: 23





	i'll love you for a lifetime

**Author's Note:**

> ever since i started drafting up the idea for "love me, please?" in my head, i always thought i would write a sequel to it told from louis' pov, so here it is! as the last book was only told through harry's pov, you guys only saw what he saw, and you didn't understand why louis was doing certain things until louis himself explained it to harry. so here's the story told from louis' pov, so you'll get both sides of the story. reading "love me, please?" before you read this isn't necessary, though i would recommend it, or you could read both at the same time to get the maximum effect!
> 
> the sequel was originally just going to be called "love me, please? book 2" (lame, i know) but i decided to name it "i'll love you for a lifetime" because it's sort of the answer to the question "love me, please?" which is sort of cute, right? no? just me? anyways...
> 
> i'm not really sure how this is going to go, if this story will be longer or shorter than "love me, please?" but i hope you'll still enjoy it! you're always welcome to give me any suggestions or ask any questions you may have about the story. i also most likely won't be updating regularly but enjoy the first chapter for now!

It was the first day of school, and Louis already wanted to go home.

He missed his comfy bed and his fairy lights and his stuffies - he didn't exactly miss the chaos of his younger sisters, but he missed his mum and he wished he could just go back home. It didn't help that walking through the front gates, he could already see the hordes of his fellow students and the crowds made him so nervous. Seeing so many people scared him and he might've almost run all the way back home if Niall didn't have a tight grip on his wrist and was dragging him towards the campus.

He'd been shy and quiet all his life - he pretty much only hung out with Zayn and Niall, two of his closest friends that he'd known for ages - and he wasn't looking forward to spending time with so many people that he didn't know. He liked the learning, sure, but being trapped in a tight space with hundreds of other people for nine hours a day wasn't exactly what Louis would call ideal.

Besides, it wasn't like he had a lot going for him this year. He had two friends and a handful of acquaintances, a couple clubs he'd join, new things he'd learn... just like every other year. 

_Here we go again_ , he thought as he walked through the front gates, being tugged along rather forcefully by Niall. _Just another school year._

Little did he know, however, there was a curly-haired, green-eyed boy hidden in the crowd just a couple meters away from him that was going to make this year very, _very_ different.

*****

His first class was English, which, luckily for him, he shared with Zayn.

He spotted a few familiar faces in the scattered group of students as he and Zayn waited inside their English classroom for their teacher, which was somewhat comforting; however, he also spotted a few unfamiliar faces and faces of people he didn't exactly, well, _like_ , which wasn't so comforting. At least he had Zayn, though, so he wasn't totally alone in this class.

Louis envied Zayn sometimes - Zayn was so cool, so calm, so collected, and Louis knew that everyone around him thought the same. Neither Louis nor Zayn were exactly "people people"; Niall was, which meant almost everyone knew him and he was friendly with everybody, but Louis and Zayn didn't have a plethora of friends like Niall did. Louis knew, however, that because Zayn was so good-looking and mysterious, everyone at school knew who he was and a lot of them probably crushed on him, too. 

Louis, on the other hand, was nobody.

He was shy, mousy, plain and just average-looking, with no notable qualities at all, except that maybe he had decent grades. He was so sure he was only known by the rest of his classmates as the kid who was friends with Zayn, the mysterious heartthrob, and Niall, the social butterfly. Louis supposed it wasn't the worst thing to be known by, but... well. It wasn't the best, either.

They were early to class, so they stood there and chatted for a while before their teacher, Mr. Jackson, finally walked in and shouted, "Quiet down, people! Alright, I've got a seating plan, listen for your name." 

Louis heard the rest of the class groan, but he listened attentively and sat down at his assigned seat when Mr. Jackson called his name. He bent his head down as he pulled out his books and stationary and set them on the table, not really noticing who was sitting around him.

Once everyone had been seated, Mr. Jackson introduced himself and started talking about the curriculum, so Louis started taking some notes. The boy sitting two seats in front of him kept turning around to talk to Demi, who was sitting right in front of Louis, but Louis was too busy listening to Mr. Jackson to see who the boy was. He was sure he'd get acquainted with his classmates over the course of the year, anyway.

But then, just as the boy turned around again, the two made eye contact. 

And, well.

Louis felt his heart thump and blood rushed up to his face - he suddenly found it hard to write, his fingers fumbling with his pen. Just one split second of eye contact with this boy already had Louis floored, and you couldn't really blame him.

Emerald green eyes, golden skin, and a flawless facial structure - Louis couldn't help but notice the boy's jawline was beautiful. There was a slight smile on the boy's lips that was somehow both adorable and roguish, it nearly made Louis keel over. And sitting on top of his head was a mop of curls - tousled with a sort of messy look but at the same time styled to perfection. His curls - and everything about this boy, really - were gorgeous and Louis deemed it was unfair for someone to look so magnificent. 

Louis' eyes widened and he immediately looked away, bending his head down to focus on his notebook again. Harry Styles was a name that everyone in this school, including Louis, had heard - he was the golden boy, after all. Everyone knew him and loved him and he was the most popular person in their grade, and, of course, he was completely out of Louis' league.

It would be impossible for anyone who knew Harry to not fall in love with his endearing smile, his impish charm, or his athletic prowess (he was the captain of the football team), and Louis was no exception. Ever since Louis had found out about who Harry Styles was and saw him in the hallways several years ago, he couldn't help but fall in love with Harry, too.

He'd tried so hard - _so hard_ \- to fight off those feelings. Harry was out of Louis' league and Louis quite literally had no chance with him, so it was pointless to crush on him. Besides, Louis was pretty sure every guy, gal, and non-binary pal in the school had a crush on Harry too, which convinced Louis even more that crushing on Harry would be fruitless. He'd be better off _not_ crushing on the gloriously unreachable golden boy.

That was better said than done, though, because for the last year or two Louis had been heavily crushing on Harry. He'd been hoping that maybe in the new school year those stupid feelings would fade away, but he doubted they would if Harry was sitting only two seats in front of him in English. Just his luck.

English passed by fairly quickly, and Louis was packing his books and stationary into his bag before he knew it. Zayn, who was sitting a few seats away, slid up to him. "What's your next class?"

"Math, I think." Louis slung his bag over his shoulder and followed Zayn out of the classroom, into the busy hallways. "How do you like Mr. Jackson?"

Zayn shrugged. "Seems alright, I guess. Not too nice and not too mean... at least I think so. We'll see when we get to know him better. You?"

"He seems nice."

"You think everyone's nice, Lou."

"That's not true, I don't think you're particularly nice," Louis said, just as he spotted Niall in the crowd and tried to wave him over. 

Zayn rolled his eyes at Louis' remark but joined him in his effort to get Niall's attention. "Ni!"

Hearing his nickname, Niall's head shot up and he made his way through the crowd towards his friends, grinning. "Hey, you guys! How was English?"

"Eh, it was fine, pretty boring. On a more interesting note, though, guess who Louis is sitting behind?"

When he realized what Zayn was trying to tell Niall, Louis immediately shot Zayn a glare, but Niall's curiosity was not to be deterred. "Uhh... who?"

"The one and only..." Zayn lowered his voice and Niall accordingly leaned in. "Harry Styles."

"Ooh." Niall's eyes widened and he turned to Louis. "You're sitting behind lover boy?" 

Louis sighed. " _Two_ seats behind, and it's not a big deal. It's just a seating plan, you idiots." In reality, it was sort of a big deal to Louis since he'd probably spend the rest of the year ogling the back of Harry's head in English, but it was so embarrassing to let his friends know that.

"C'mon, Lou! You're sitting so close to a boy you're hopelessly in love with, be a little more excited, will you?" Niall linked his arm with Louis' as they walked. 

" _Hopeless_ is right," Louis muttered. "You both know I don't have a chance with him at all, what difference is sitting near him going to make?"

"I would smack you for being so negative, Lou, but first of all, you're too precious to smack, and second of all, we're going to be late to class. You're in the same math class as I am, right Lou? And Zayn, art is your next class? Alright, see you later, Zayniepoo." Niall blew Zayn a kiss as they separated in the corridor, and Zayn caught the kiss and threw it away before he disappeared. Niall pouted. "Ouch. What a jerk."

Louis giggled. "It's what you get for calling him Zayniepoo, Ni."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Niall huffed. They quickly entered their math classroom, where most of their classmates were already milling around and waiting for their currently absent teacher to arrive, meaning that they, luckily, weren't late. 

Lunch was a mostly tranquil and normal affair. They sat at their table, the same one they'd been sitting at nearly every day for the past few years, and exchanged opinions on their new teachers and classmates. Louis was glad to take a break from his classes and sat listening to Zayn and Niall talk, occasionally interjecting with his own opinion but for the most part, he was quietly munching on his lunch following his friends' conversation. Niall had his arm around Louis and he snuggled closer instantly, not thinking much about it. 

He zoned out a bit when Niall and Zayn got to talking about their physics class, which was a subject Louis didn't take. A few yards away was Harry's lunch table, where he was sitting with his best friend, Liam Payne. Louis had to admit, for the last year or two he'd always sneak a peek at Harry during lunch - he couldn't help it! The man of his dreams was right there and it wasn't like he'd get caught doing it; no one, much less Harry, ever spared him a glance.

Louis let his eyes wander over to Harry's lunch table, but he was caught off guard and let out a little yelp when he saw that Harry was looking _right at him_. Not even a casual, random glance, but genuinely _staring_ at Louis.

He quickly averted his eyes, cheeks reddening immediately. Maybe he looked away _too_ quickly, because his jarring movement caught Niall and Zayn's attention and they looked at him questioningly.

"What are you...?" Zayn squinted at Louis suspiciously and traced Louis' previous line of sight, landing on a bashful looking Harry. "Oh. I see."

"What?" Niall demanded, still unaware of what had caused Louis to look away so quickly.

"He was looking at the one and only Harold Styles," Zayn teased, prompting Louis to try to reach over the table and cover Zayn's mouth.

"Shh! Shut up!"

"Oh, come on! He can't hear us... I think." Those last two words were tacked on in such a way that made Louis turn around and look at Harry again in panic, but luckily the curly-haired boy wasn't looking at them and didn't show any signs that he could hear their conversation.

"Aw, look at you, Lou! You're buh-lush-ing," Niall sing-songed, pinching Louis' pink cheek and tutting when Louis tried to bite his fingers. "Hey, just because you're in love doesn't mean you can eat my hand."

"I am _not_ in love with Harry," Louis insisted. "It's just... a temporary thing. It'll pass."

Zayn snorted. "It hasn't passed for the last couple of years, Lou. Admit it, you're in love with Harry, or at the least wildly infatuated with him, and you know it."

"I am _not_ ," Louis repeated, crossing his arms to try to look intimidating and failing miserably. He knew Zayn's words were true, but he wasn't admitting to it! 

"Why are you blushing so hard, hm? Does the mere sight of our young Mr. Styles affect you that much?" Niall reached over to try to steal one of Louis' fries, but his hands were batted away.

"I'm not blushing just because I saw him," Louis defended himself. "He was looking at me - or at least he was looking at our general direction - and we made eye contact.

"Ooh la la." Niall wriggled his eyebrows suggestively and nudged Louis. "You made eye contact! You're practically married now, you know."

"Niall! Stop making fun of me," Louis whined, removing Niall's arm from around his shoulders in protest. "It's just - I wasn't expecting him to be looking at us. He's never done that before."

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry." Niall held his hands up in surrender and turned to look over at Harry's table again, where more of his friends were starting to sit down. "Wonder why he was looking at you..."

"Because he's head-over-heels in love with me, of course," Louis said sarcastically. 

"You never know, he could actually be in love with you," Zayn commented, earning a scoff from Louis.

He wasn't the sharpest crayon in the box, but one thing that Louis did know for sure was that Harry Styles was definitely, _definitely_ not in love with him. Obviously.

Biology was another class Louis and Niall shared, so they made their way to the classroom together after lunch. A few of their other classmates were scattered in the room and they joined them, finding a little corner to stand in while they waited for their teacher. Niall had his arm draped around Louis and nudged him slightly. "Hey, is that Jack?"

"Where?" Louis craned his head to try to find who Niall was looking at. Jack was someone Louis would consider himself somewhat friends with, but they hadn't seen each other all summer. His eyes landed on a figure that looked a lot like Jack, except his shoulder length blonde curls were now replaced by a shorter quiff. "Wait, did he cut his hair?"

"I think he did! Wow, he looks so different." Niall reached up to pat his own hair. "Now his hair sort of looks like _mine_."

"Not really, his hair's a darker sort of blonde compared to yours..." Louis' eyes instinctively flitted around to look at the moving figures approaching the classroom, eyes widening when he saw that Harry Styles was walking into his biology classroom and looking at him. _Again_. That was the third time they'd made eye contact today, and the oxytocin Louis was releasing was probably enough to fuel a power plant.

He looked away briskly, once again moving his head so suddenly that it caught Niall's attention. "Why did you... oh. Ohhh. Well, well, well. Mr. Styles again, huh?"

"He made eye contact with me again!" Louis whisper-shouted under his breath, eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "For the third time today!"

"That's a good thing! Why are you so worked up about it?"

"Because - because before today the only time he's ever made eye contact with me was when we walked past his table in the restaurant while he was on a date with Ellie, and that was a year ago! Now he's made eye contact with me three times in one day?"

Niall let out a loud cackle. "I remember that! I think making eye contact with your crush while he was on a date rendered you catatonic for a few hours, and it was _hilarious_. You're very dramatic, you know?"

Louis pouted. "Hey, don't laugh, Ni."

Niall stuck out his tongue just as Ms. Smith, their biology teacher, entered the room. Like most teachers, she started off by sorting out the seating arrangement and pairing people together to be lab partners. By some miracle, Louis and Niall managed to be paired together, which Louis was endlessly grateful for. Niall was almost the only person he knew well in this class and being paired with anyone else would mean he was in for a not-so-enjoyable year in biology.

Unfortunately, though, Harry and his lab partner Dylan were seated quite close to them. They weren't in Louis' line of sight so he wouldn't have much of a chance to ogle Harry, but they were still close enough that Louis felt like he'd be on the edge of his seat for every single class.

Louis tried to push those thoughts of Harry aside and instead tried to focus on whatever Niall was saying.

"Are you finally going to try out for the football team this year?"

Louis scrunched his nose up and shook his head. "No. No way."

"Why not? You're so good at it, you _need_ to be on the team. I've tried to convince you for the past few years, has all that work meant nothing to you?"

"Yes. It's meant nothing to me."

"I hate you," Niall grumbled. "Come _on_ , Lou! We don't have much time left in this school and football would be good for you, no?"

"Yeah... no."

"Why?"

"First of all - I am _not_ good at football." Louis shushed Niall when he tried to protest and continued in a hushed voice since Harry's seat was close, "Second, may I remind you that Harry is the captain of the football team? I don't want to make a fool of myself in front of him."

Niall folded his arms. "You should still join the football team. _I'm_ trying out, you should come with me!"

"No."

Niall gave up and reached into his pocket, pulling out a tiny chocolate bar that he intended to eat after class - Ms. Smith didn't allow food in her classes - and staring at it longingly. He wasn't exactly _hungry_ , but he wanted to eat his chocolate bar.

Louis made a face at the sight of the chocolate. "Ew, isn't that bar expired?"

"Only by a week," Niall asserted. "It's perfectly fine, and food is food. I don't have any other snacks on me."

"If you ever find a girlfriend, Ni, I'll be so surprised," Louis joked.

"But I won't be surprised when you find a boyfriend, Lou. You're, like, the definition of perfect," Niall said in reply, succeeding in making Louis blush slightly.

"Yeah, right. I'll never find a boyfriend."

"Shut it, Lou, stop being so negative about yourself. You're cute and sweet and smart and any guy would be lucky to have you, hm?" Niall bumped Louis' waist with his own. "Now shh, Ms. Smith's talking about tests and grading criteria."

"Okay, fine." Louis quietly flipped open his notebook and pulled out a pen to take a few notes. 

At the end of biology, Louis packed up his things like he always did. He zipped up his backpack and slung it over his shoulder, ready to follow Niall out of the room, but he turned to get one more sneaky glance at Harry. 

The curly-haired boy was talking to Adrian, a slight, friendly smile on his lips and his muscular arms held loosely on his side. Louis' heart ached at how magnificent Harry looked, so ethereal, like he belonged in some form of paradise and not in a biology lab. He wished with everything in him that _something_ could happen between them - he'd be grateful for anything - but it was a harsh truth that Louis would never be more than just another classmate to Harry Styles.

And with that thought, Louis slipped out the door.


End file.
